Mothers and Children
by FanFicFan365
Summary: Blanca treasures the relationships she has with each of her children.
1. Chapter 1

House of Evangelista was chaotic that night, settling where each of the new members would be sleeping. Their family grew exponentially after tonight's ball. That didn't matter to Blanca. She had enough love to give. Finally, she was laying in bed allowing sleep to overtake her racing thoughts, but she heard someone at her bedside clearing his throat. "Ma, hey ma...I can't sleep. Can I please talk to you?"

Blanca's eyes shot open and she sat up like a rocket. "What is it Papi? Are you ok?"

"Yah moms. Everything is ok. I just can't stop thinking about how I hurt you and I owe you an apology. I can't sleep. I haven't slept since then."

Blanca's alert tension melted and she relaxed and patted the bed next to her. "Oh baby boy, come here and crawl under the covers and get warmed up. We can talk this through." Papi released the long breath he didn't realize he was holding in and suddenly his tears started flowing uncontrollably.

Blanca protectively put her arms around him and started soothing him. "Shhhhh...it's ok Papi. You are home safe. My baby boy is home safe. I am ok. We are going to be ok. I love you." She wiped his tears and rocked him.

"Moms, I love you too. You don't know how much. I never had a mother and didn't know how it felt. Then poof, magic and I got the best mother I could ever wish for and I put her in danger and almost let it slip away. Moms, all I want is to make you proud. All I want is to take care of you and protect you. I just need to figure out how to do this." Papi melted into Blanca's chest and she kissed his hair.

"Papi, you have already made me so proud. You made a hard choice and left the dealing behind. That makes me proud. You are so much to me. I hope you see your worth. I'm gonna tell you. I didn't sleep since the day you moved out. I couldn't stop thinking about if you were ok, if you were alive, if you were in jail. I did alot of thinking on those sleepless nights. YOU ARE SMART. You have so many talents. Tomorrow morning, we are going to get you registered at CUNY for a GED course. I actually bought you a GED study guide. In no time, you will have that high school diploma. Papi, I wish you could see what I see. You are so gifted at so many things. I have seen you on those video games...you could design them! I have seen how you painted that skateboard deck of yours...you are an artist. I have seen how you treat the customers at the bodega...you have skills in customer service. You help me every month when I am trying to balance our budget...you have financial skills. Baby boy, you have so much potential."

"Ma really? You think all this? Oh wow...I can't wait! I am going to hustle and ace that test because I want to do this for you moms. You make me want to do this. You make me want to better myself. You make me want to be a good and important man. I want to be a man who can take care of his mom. Moms, I want to some day buy you a house and give you the life of a queen like you deserve."

Blanca giggled and kissed him on the cheek. "Get some sleep. We have alot to do tomorrow."

"I know. I can't wait til morning and start. Can I sleep here with you moms?" He implored.

"Lawd, my kids get on my last nerve. Fine. Just get some sleep!"

They both drifted off into calm sleep after weeks on sleepless nights.

Morning came quickly. Angel was up and moving quickly because she had a photo shoot at Eileen Ford's office for a European magazine she needed to get to. Damon was up and ready for school too with a busy day ahead...a couple of tests in his gen ed classes and heavy rehearsals for an upcoming performance that Blanca had prominently calendared on the family calendar and was looking forward to. She had even indulged in buying herself a fancy dress that Angel helped her pick out to attend her son's dance performance. Papi was so wired and eager that he had already poured himself and Blanca a mug of coffee and poured bowls of cereal with sliced banana for each. Blanca had chosen an outfit that screamed assertive mother...she wore a white button-down blouse with a gold accent necklace, with a fuschia blazer, a black pencil skirt and black pumps. Papi looked pulled together too. They ate. Papi cleared the table and washed the dishes.

Blanca grabbed her purse and said, "You ready to go, Papi?"

"I can't wait to get started."

Blanca smiled and they walked out the door on their way to the train to get to the Guttman campus. Blanca spoke with the registrar and in no time, Papi was registered for the course. The registrar suggested that he take the mock GED exam so they could asses what level to put him in and offered that he could take it immediately. They agreed. Blanca knew that her son needed her support so she told him that she would stay close to campus to wait for him. She did more than that. She explored the registrar's office and spoke to counselors and found out about a program called the "Accelerated Associates Degree" program that CUNY offered and she grabbed all of the information they had on scholarship and financial aid opportunities. There was even a program that was offered to students who had grown up in the foster care system. Essentially, it offered both an associated degree and a bachelors degree free of charge to them. She grabbed all of the paperwork and her mind started racing about all of the possibilities that had suddenly opened up for her son. She went outside and waited. She smoked and thought and paced and suddenly Papi came out. He had the biggest smile on his face. He hugged her. Then said, "Ma, we've gotta work on getting you to quit cigarettes. I need you healthy to be my main cheerleader. The registrar asked me to wait in there for the results."

Blanca put out her cigarette and laughed. "Don't give me no sass young man. Let's go in."

After a 20 minute wait, the registrar came out. She looked particularly effervescent, which eased their stress. "Ms. Rodriguez, Mr. Martinez, I actually have really good news for you. The results of your test meet eligibility for general education development completion. You will be receiving your certificate in the mail shortly. Congratulations!

Papi and Blanca stood there silently stunned. Suddenly they both snapped out of it and hugged and thanked the registrar. They walked out of the office and stopped again and were still stunned and hugged again. Papi's eyes were glossy. So were Blanca's.

Blanca told Papi that they needed to make a quick stop before going back home, and before Blanca went in to the nail salon to take care of the appointments she had for the day. Papi didn't know where Blanca was leading him. She was taking him to the campus bookstore, that she had passed earlier while she was waiting for Papi and pacing with nerves. She browsed around the apparel section and grabbed a scholarly looking CUNY sweatshirt. She took it to the register and pulled out a small wad of bills that she had in her purse from her tips at the salon. Papi's mind was swimming and racing at the same time. He was so overwhelmed that he actually was unaware of what Blanca was doing. When they stepped out of the bookstore, she handed Papi the bag. He pulled out the sweatshirt and was silent, and suddenly let out a cry. Uncontrollable, sobbing and tears were flowing from Papi. Blanca watched. There was such a mix of unexpected emotions bubbling between the two of them. "Papi, are you ok?" She asked.

"Mama. I am trying to process all of this. This is not supposed to be my life. None of this would have happened if it weren't for you. For your love. For your motivation. None of this, none of this without my mother. It is so much. It is too much. I need to organize myself, my thoughts. Mama. I am going to do this for you, for me. To protect you. To show you how much I can be. To show you how much you are."

They took the train home and Papi gathered all of the paperwork and began to research his next steps. Blanca took care of her clients and deposited her tips for the day in her jar where she was saving up for her own dream. Her dream of owning her own salon. She grabbed the box of cigarettes she was carrying in her purse, crumbled it up and threw it in the trash. "Papi's right. I need to take care of myself, for me, for them."


	2. Chapter 2

It's been a long day, but so worth it. It's finally Friday...Friday Family dinner. Blanca had to make the food stretch now that they had additional family members. Papi had brought home a chicken a few days ago from the bodega and some veggies. They had rice. They could always count on rice to go a long way. Blanca flipped through her mother's recipe book and knew right away...arroz con pollo. Blanca had been trying to make healthier meals since her diagnosis and of course for the kids. Papi walked in from his shift at the bodega and kissed his mother on the cheek.

"Hey moms!"

"Hey Papi. Come here, baby. Wash your hands and help me make dinner...arroz con pollo."

"Of course. First, let me pop up these tables I found at the flea so we can have more space."

Blanca smiled. Of course her son would have thought about that. Of course he would come home providing what his family needed without being asked. He finished, washed his hands and got to work filling up a large pot with water.

"Hey moms, we can make a soup too with the broth from the chicken. We have some carrots and potatoes and celery and noodles. I saw the recipe in abuela's recipe book." Blanca smiled and nodded, but mainly got giddy at the thought of Papi calling her mother abuela. If Blanca's mother had seen the family she had built and the children she was raising, she would be so proud, she thought. She would love her "grandkids". Blanca cherished the thought that she and her sons enjoy cooking together. Angel..not so much. She didn't find joy in cooking. That didn't matter though. Blanca and Angel have their own mother/daughter things that they share and do together. Cooking was a mother and son activity that they shared. That's where they talked and shared. Blanca and Angel shared when they shopped together or when they walked together through the park. She wondered how Cubby and Lemar would fit in if they eventually did.

While preparing dinner, Blanca and Papi chatted away at what had happened to Papi earlier. It was all so incredibly unexpected. Papi shared that he had given a lot of thought to what he wanted to do with this opportunity. He had already begun to fill out the paperwork for his application to CUNY and his financial aid packets. He shared with Blanca that he needed to get his general education requirements out of the way but he noticed that they offered a degree in photography. He had borrowed Pray's camera that Blanca had given him for Christmas and had taken shots of Angel when she was submitting to agents and he took images of Damon while he rehearsed at the studio and he waited for him to finish. It was all improvised shots with no lighting and no professional gear but he definitely had an eye for it. Angel's agent Eileen Ford had mentioned it to him and had also offered to connect him with a studio photographer to get an apprenticeship. He actually had taken some candid images of his mother when she walked the balls and had captured some beautiful shots that he had been planning on framing and giving to her as a gift. He said he also wanted to take business classes so he would learn how to run the business.

When dinner was ready and served, everyone gathered around the table to eat. Blanca tapped her water glass with her fork and told everyone she had a big announcement. She told everyone Papi's news and told him how proud she was. They all piled on top of him and embraced him. Then they feasted on their delicious meal from abuela's cookbook.

That night, Papi filled out his paperwork and prepared it to be mailed as soon as his GED certificate arrived. That night, Blanca slept well, knowing she had helped another one of her children find his worth and get on his right path.


End file.
